Parents win fight to not medicate daughter

DETROIT (WXYZ/CNN) – A family in Detroit is reunited after a legal battle stemming from a mother's refusal to give her daughter medication.

The child was removed from her home after a confrontation about medical treatment with Child Protective Services led to a standoff between Maryanne Godboldo and police back in March. Godboldo gave herself up to police while her daughter was made a ward of the state and then sent to live with an aunt.

"Oh, I'm going to go home and hug her like I always do and continue to do what I've been doing, continue to do what I've been doing and that's taking care of her," Godboldo said.

CPS accused Godboldo of neglect because she refused to medicate her 13-year-old daughter. The judge ruled it was a parent's job, not the state's to oversee medication, claiming a victory for parents everywhere, according to Godboldo's attorney.

"I think that message needs to go wide and broad that it is the parent who has to determine that, and without the consent, that psychotropic medicine cannot be administered to a child unless there is a court order," said Godboldo's attorney Wanda Evans.

After months of fighting, Godboldo left court with an order to finally take her daughter home.

"I feel wonderful today that my daughter has been given back to me," she said. "Which in my mind she was never taken, but we still have a long way to go."

The father, Mubarak Hakim, wants an apology from the Detroit Police Department.

"They owe us an apology for their misconduct based on a lie," Hakim said.

Both parents will have to be back in court in December for an update. The judge is requiring an education plan and treatment plan be in place before she rules on whether or not to dismiss the state's guardianship over the girl.